Working with children every day I am privy to some of the cutest, funniest and most surprising comments on a daily basis.

With the arrival of snow recently I asked the children ages 4 and 5, in my class to think about the ways in which we can tell what the weather is like outside…keep in mind that the classroom I’m in has several very large windows that were unobstructed and in plain view of the children and this was right before the time of day when we go outside to play when I asked them this.

I quickly got a dozen little hands that shot up into the air eager to share with me their suggestions…the answers included ipad’s, tablets, laptops, computers, iphones, ipods and cell phones and yet not one child mentioned the idea of looking out a window to see what was happening outside or opening the door, or physically going outside to decipher the weather for that day.

Interesting…….

Although all of they’re responses are accurate and probably the most accessible options made available to them on a daily basis it was slightly disconcerting that not one child thought of what I believed to be some of the most obvious options. Now I’m not saying this is good or bad but I do think it is very telling of where we’re at with the younger generation when the use of technology trumps the simple act of stepping outside into nature.

Is it the money, the co-workers, the location, the benefits or the title that make you stick with a job? Or is it something else entirely…some intangible element, a feeling that makes you believe that your strengths will be highlighted, your weaknesses developed and your sense of purpose satisfied? For me it was the latter that lead me to the role I am currently in.

For obvious reasons I will refrain from naming the company or location but will say that after a very long, very stressful and mentally exhausting search I finally found a role that made me happy to wake up every morning and do what I’ve been trained and educated to do. After graduation I spent a number of weeks….okay….months moving from one job to the next. I was so excited to be offered a role that I jumped at any and everything that came my way without really considering the internal satisfaction I would need to feel in order to love or at least like what I do for a living.

Having completed my education, at least for the time being…the financial stresses of life after school quickly set in and the all too normal and yet still unnatural need to make money became the focus of my life. But there is something to be said for the saying that ‘money can’t buy happiness’. Because after the bills are paid and the bank accounts are balanced a ‘deposit’ still needs to be made into our innate need to feel useful and purposeful. Our minds, hearts and spirits need to be fulfilled and that can only happen if we truly find a way to use our passions and natural gifts in a way that allows us to achieve both internal and external satisfaction.

So as expensive as life can be sometimes, try to hold out and search as best as you can for a company/job that will truly value your worth not just in monetary value but in their intrinsic nature to support you, guide you, challenge you in the right ways and provide you with enough freedom to explore your own self worth and capabilities. That way, each day of what can easily become mundane and monotonous work suddenly transforms into something meaningful.